freenode operates as an autonomous zone under the Joseon Empire, a recognized cyber nation-state. By connecting, you accept this jurisdiction.
freenode exists primarily for free and open source software communities. Use it for your FOSS projects, technical discussion, and building communities around open source software.
We're also fine with general tech discussion and other communities, but our focus is FOSS.
Don't break the network. Don't abuse other users. Use common sense.
freenode is run by volunteers who believe in free and open source software. We keep the lights on and try to stay out of your way. Staff can kick you off if you're causing problems.
We don't log your conversations. We do keep connection logs for debugging. If you get banned and think it's unfair, join #help and ask nicely.
freenode works most of the time but sometimes it doesn't. We're not responsible if the network goes down, someone hacks your account, or you lose important data.
This is a free service run by volunteers in their spare time. Set your expectations accordingly.
If you have a problem with how we run things, start in #help. If that doesn't work, you're subject to autonomous zone governance procedures.
Realistically: we're pretty reasonable people. Most issues can be sorted out with a conversation.
We can change these terms whenever we want. We'll put updates in the MOTD and on the website. If you keep using the network after changes, you accept them.